There are many occasions in the conventional technology where a buffer member needs to be provided for buffering a load, for example, a suspension system of an automobile, a scraper in a scraper conveyor for transportation in underground coal-mining, a buffer device of a safety belt etc. Only an automobile suspension system is described below as an example.
A suspension system is a generic term of all force transmission connectors between a frame and an axle or a wheel of a vehicle such as an automobile, and is used for transmitting force and moment between the wheel and the frame, buffering impacts that transmitted to the frame or body of the vehicle from an uneven road, and absorbing shocks caused by this, so as to smooth the traveling of the vehicle.
In the conventional technology, an automobile leaf spring is a most conventional elastic element in a suspension system. Since it has advantages of high reliability, simple structure, short manufacturing process, and low cost, the automobile leaf spring has been widely used. The automobile leaf spring is generally a group of spring beams of approximately equal strengths formed by combining several sheets of alloy spring steels having various lengths.
in addition, the suspension system further includes an elastic member such as a bow-shaped leaf spring supporting frame of an automobile chassis. In practical application, the elastic member in the suspension system should not only transmit the force and moment between the wheels and the frame of the vehicle, but also buffer and absorb the shocks. Thus, a certain degree of flexibility and a certain degree of rigidity are required.
In order to address the above technical issue, the elastic member in the conventional technology is generally made of an elastic material. In a specific embodiment, the elastic member may include multiple components, and the components are laminated to each other to form a multiple layered plate-shaped structure similar to a leaf spring or are stacked to generate a certain amount of elasticity. In another embodiment, the elastic member may be configured as an elastic bent member having a certain degree of curvature or may be configured to have an arcuate structure, such as a bow shaped structure. That is to say, the conventional elastic member is generally a workpiece made of the elastic material and having a simple structure and a simple shape so as to achieve balance between rigidity and flexibility.
However, the conventional elastic member must be preferably made of an elastic material, and is restricted significantly by the structure of the elastic member with regard to buffering and subjected force during bearing, which is difficult to achieve even and consistent transition and is essentially incapable of achieving balance between rigidity and flexibility.
Hence, a technical issue to be presently addressed by the person skilled in the art is to design an elastic member which combines flexibility and rigidity, and is capable of achieving functions such as buffering and shock absorbing while providing effective load bearing.